Long tentacle plate coral fun

salty blues

salty blues

Active Member
I just acquired a ltp coral from a dealer online who stated that it is a "great choice for a beginning reefer" & "easy to care for". Even swf.com advertises their ltp coral as "care level easy".
Now, doing research after the fact, I find that the ltp coral does not do well in the home aquarium.
Moral: research before you buy.
And we live and learn.
 
nordy

nordy

Active Member
How is yours looking? Fully inflated, active?
I got a ltp coral a few weeks ago from an online dealer and it seems to be doing fine-it opened up and inflated within a few hours and now that I have my water flow improved and adjusted with my new Koralia units, the tenacles are extending, waving in the breeze, and my tomato clown just started hosting it.
 
nacl freak

nacl freak

Member
I've had mine over a year and it has doubled it's size. it's approx. 8 to 10 inches across. It moved several times, but it found a spot it liked and has been there for about 8 mo. Just this week-end it ate my mandrian
Then spit it back out
It likes cyclopeeze,and minced seafood. I keep my Ca, Mag, Iodine and Stronium[sp?] levels up with water changes .I have T5VHO lights. Other than target feeding once a week, it's on it's own. BTW mine is a long tenacle yellow
 
salty blues

salty blues

Active Member
Originally Posted by Nordy
http:///forum/post/2535942
How is yours looking? Fully inflated, active?
I got a ltp coral a few weeks ago from an online dealer and it seems to be doing fine-it opened up and inflated within a few hours and now that I have my water flow improved and adjusted with my new Koralia units, the tenacles are extending, waving in the breeze, and my tomato clown just started hosting it.
The tentacles are extended somewhat.
How much flow is yours getting? Mine was in an area where it was waving around quite a lot. I moved it to where it is receiving less flow, but how does one know if it is getting too much flow or not enough?
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Plates can and will move on their own if they are not getting what they need where they are. Agree with nacl put it in a low to moderate flow area on the sand and then leave it be.
 
aquaknight

aquaknight

Active Member
Originally Posted by Nordy
http:///forum/post/2535942
....and my tomato clown just started hosting it.
That will spell the end for your plate shortly. They can't take that abuse from hosting duties.
LTP's seem to like light, mine always moved to the brighter spot in the sand. Feeding once a week is good practice, as research showed LTP's get up to 20% of their nutriution from whole foods (whatever they catch).
They should get a good bit of indirectly flow. Nothing remotely direct or straight from a powerhead.
 
salty blues

salty blues

Active Member
Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/2536020
Plates can and will move on their own if they are not getting what they need where they are. Agree with nacl put it in a low to moderate flow area on the sand and then leave it be.
If they are getting too much flow, will they try to move to a different area?
 
luvmybizz

luvmybizz

Member
Mine will be about 5 inches when it is all sucked up at night but during the day it gets huge, we are talking like it grows another 2 inches in diameter! Anyways I just got mine and it seems to be doing really good! I hope yours does ok!
 
nordy

nordy

Active Member
Originally Posted by AquaKnight
http:///forum/post/2536048
That will spell the end for your plate shortly. They can't take that abuse from hosting duties.
LTP's seem to like light, mine always moved to the brighter spot in the sand. Feeding once a week is good practice, as research showed LTP's get up to 20% of their nutriution from whole foods (whatever they catch).
They should get a good bit of indirectly flow. Nothing remotely direct or straight from a powerhead.

What is it about hosting that is bad for the plate coral? So far, I don't see any bad effects-I just got home and the plate is waving and fully extended. Does the fish damage the coral physically or does the coral just get stressed out from the fish moving in and out of the tentacles?
 
aquaknight

aquaknight

Active Member
Sorry for the late reply, hopefully you get this. Yes, the clownfish will physically damaged the coral. LTP's are very sensitive because they have very soft tissue and a razor sharp skeleton. Therefore they are very susceptible to infections and irreparable damaged. My clownfish hosted my LTP for a bit then found a BTA, but the damaged was done it started to recede. To top it off, one of my snails, a turbo about 50% of a golf ball in size, fell off the glass onto the plate, putting a nail into it's coffin.
 
nordy

nordy

Active Member
Thanks for the reply! For now, the ltp coral seems to be holding up but I will keep a close eye on it. Bad fish!
 
nordy

nordy

Active Member
I was finally able to catch the clown a couple of days ago and put it in isolation. It was not easy to catch, but I figured, hey I hope that I am smarter than a friggin' 1 1/2 " fish! The coral was looking pretty rough, with only about 10% of the tentacles fully inflated and the others pretty sad looking. Anyway, the ltp seems to recovering and today I moved it to the bottom of the tank (it had been perched on a rock 3"-4" above the substrate). Now it seems so happy, almost every tentacle is inflated and gently swaying in the breeze! This, plus my Ricordia making a reappearance, makes me happy. It's been a good day at the SW ranch!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top